1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a job instruction processing apparatus capable of automatically processing a job instruction handwritten on a sheet at a workstation (WS) or personal computer (PC) connected to, e.g., a facsimile apparatus (FAX).
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional apparatus for automatically processing a job instruction handwritten on a sheet, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 4-18844 proposes an apparatus in which a fixed identification pattern (e.g., a bar code) for instructing a destination of an electronic mail is printed on a FAX transmission sheet, this identification pattern is recognized to specify the destination of the electronic mail, and the contents of FAX reception are automatically transferred as the electronic mail. According to this apparatus, the load on a FAX sender can be reduced without troubling the sender about the procedure of an electronic mail.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 3-63877 also discloses an apparatus in which necessary information is read from a transmitted FAX document to retrieve desired data from an image database (DB), and a retrieved result is transmitted through a FAX. This apparatus can access the database apparatus from an existing FAX terminal.
In addition, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 1-264359, 1-284167, and 4-86913 disclose a technique associated with a recognition error countermeasure using a remote control FAX instruction, a technique of processing a FAX input sheet for repeating multi-address calling, and a technique of improving the operability associated with cursor movements, respectively.
All these conventional examples, however, are limited to FAX transmission jobs, and the transfer destination of an electronic mail is fixed by the FAX transmission sheet.
When the exchange of instructions of job contents and results of job execution by a plurality of persons is taken into consideration, a person engaged in one job does not necessarily utilize the same equipment under the same circumstance. A difference in equipment configuration including a FAX apparatus, a workstation, a personal computer, and the like results in a great difference in a method of instructing job contents except for direct communication.
As described above, in the conventional examples, the kinds of executable jobs are limited, and different methods of instructing job contents must be used for different equipment configurations. Therefore, job instructions are overloaded.